Interviews About Albums: Vexing Hex - Solve Et Coagula (2024)

In this new interview, we sat down with the American Doom Rock band Vexing Hex to ask questions about their album, "Solve Et Coagula".

1. What can you say about this new EP/CD?

Solve Et Coagula is our sophomore album following our first offering, Haunt, which was released in 2018. We set out to create a fun and killer album with no pretense or filler to it which people would hopefully want to listen to and return to many times. It serves as an homage to not only many of our own personal inspirations and influences, but reflects our evolution since Haunt, both in terms of songwriting and production. It’s kind of our own deranged take on an “album-oriented rock” album.

2. What is the meaning of the EP/CD name?

Solve Et Coagula is an alchemist’s motto that means “dissolve and coagulate”, basically breaking something down to its essential parts and then rebuilding it into something new from those elements. The title could be interpreted many ways and applied to many things, but at its most surface level, we’d say it refers to how we broke the band down to its essentials, added some fresh influences and ideas (and new members), and then let it take shape into what Vexing Hex is now.

3. Which one is the composer of the CD/EP?

Cadaverus, lead singer and guitarist of the band composes the music and writes the lyrics, serving as the main oracle channeling material for the band. From there, the band breathes life into the songs together, each member leaving their own imprint on their part with their own style and playing. Radament, drummer and singer, is credited with drum composition on the album and helps to take the basic drum parts that Cadaverus begins with and turn them into more fleshed-out arrangements that complement each song well.

4. If you had to pick one song, which one would you pick?

It’s likely that each member would have their own differing choice, but for the sake of keeping it simple: “VViccaphobia”. All of the songs on the album are heavy hitters, but “VViccaphobia” is one of the heaviest of them. It should sound both familiar and fresh to fans and listeners of Haunt and should hex new listeners with its infectious hooks, seductive riffs, and doomed atmosphere.

5. Is there a special message in this EP/CD? If there is what is it?

There’s no one overt message in this album, but there are many ideas and themes woven throughout. The overarching theme of the album that seems to stand out is transformation. Change requires introspection, action, and sometimes, some fire, both literally and figuratively. We encourage listeners to dissect the album and its lyrics and see what they think for themselves!

6. Are there some lyrics that you'd love to share?

Lyrics are best enjoyed in full context, but with that being said, we feel the final verse of “VViccaphobia” goes particularly hard: You accuse her in the village square / You lead the witch hunt but she’s no longer there / To your horror, now they see the proof / Your leg’s been altered into a cloven hoof.

7. Which inspirations have been important for this album? Like musically or friends, family, someone you'd love to thank especially?

Musically, there are too many to name, but to rattle off some of the more noticeable ones: Alice In Chains, the Beatles, Black Sabbath, Danzig, Ghost, Kvelertak, Mercyful Fate, Missing Persons, Ramones, Slayer, Thin Lizzy… that could go on all day, but you get the idea!

We also want to give a shout-out to our friend Micky Calavera, who helped to inspire the title of the album, and to Sean Frasier, head of Wise Blood Records, who believed in this album and getting it out there to people in physical form, and to whom we are eternally grateful!

8. Something to add?

Solve Et Coagula is unleashing on the world June 21st on Wise Blood Records, and you can pre-order it right now on Bandcamp in many formats, including vinyl! We also will be haunting stages across the Midwest this summer and fall, so please follow our social media, and if you see an opportunity to come out and see us live, come and let us hex you in the flesh!